by Alexander D

Created on: September 15, 2007

"Hurricane Terrorizes the entire region" "Terrorism Rating UP" "Officials have commented that the bridge collapse was not an act of terrorism". Terror, it's frightening, it's fear, that's the essence of the word. In our world it's all about terrorism... even when it's not.

Roosevelt said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Indeed what could be more frightening than terrifying, terrorizing, fear. Fear is perhaps the most dominating emotion of the human condition. Terrorists could practically be everywhere; on your plane trip, behind a street corner, or sitting at the neighboring coffee table discussing plans to attack your country. Fear has no face, and the media has left us afraid of this shadowy and seemingly indestructible force.

Why use the word 'terrorizes'? Why not release a headline stating "Hurricane destroys buildings in region"? It is no coincidence that the media chooses to use the word 'terrorize' instead. It is a scare tactic. What benefit does it bring to have a scrolling message on TV that claims "terrorism alert level increased"? Do we have a terrorist scale? It's a scare tactic to remind us that it's getting more dangerous... more terrifying out there. The media shamelessly also releases comments stating that certain disasters or events were not linked to terrorism. The human subconscious mind will glance at that message and read the words 'disaster result' 'of terrorism' and will not remember the 'not'. All a person will remember is a news story that featured a disaster related to terrorism. This is how our subconscious mind works, and the media exploits that fact with scare tactics.

It boils down to the notion that emotional activity captures attention. A story that is reported without bias and objectivity may not attract as many viewers as when the word 'terrorism' is thrown around. Suddenly something potentially positive can be turned into something awfully frightening. "The President arrived there late in the evening, but terrorism concerns raised questions of whether additional security is required". Our world is not all bad, it's not all about fear-driven motives, so why place that slant on news stories? Emotional-appeal sells stories, especially fear-driven ones, but these tactics are in effect going against the current for the ethical practice of reporting news in an objective and neutral manner.

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